i'm john berman. >> i'm in for christine romans, carol costello has the day off. >> new this morning we learned that a jumbo jet stranded overnight at a wichita airport will be able to take off. this air deback started late last night when a huge cargo plane headed for a military base landed in a small airport instead. >> the atlas 747 dreamlifter headed to mcconnell air force base but for some reason it ended up ten miles away at the smaller jabarra airport. the faa is investigating what went wrong. >> officials feared the runway was too short for the dreamlifter to take off. officials tell cnn the plane will attempt to take off later today. >> rene marsh tells us how the plane got into this predicament in the first place.

>> reporter: a giant cargo plane stranded in wichita, kansas, this morning, after making a big mistake, landing at the wrong airport, ten miles away from where it was supposed to. >> giant 4241 heavy, do you know which airport you're at? >> well, we think we have a pretty good pulse. >> giant 4241 heavy, roger, you -- it appears you are at jabarra. >> say again? >> giant 4241 heavy, we saw the plane on the radar and it appears you are at jabarra airport. >> say again the name of it again? >> jabara. >> reporter: the jet was supposed to land at the mcconnell air force base late last night but somehow ended up at the jabara airport, making matters worse, jabara has no control tower and a runway that's only half the length of mcconnell's. >> mcconnell's is nine miles southeast. >> yes, sir, we just landed at the other airport. >> reporter: and it doesn't end there. a tug that was on its way to help move the dreamlifter broke down, according to wichita

affiliate kwch. landings at the wrong airport have happened before. last year a passenger plane carrying 14 people landed at the wrong airport in west virginia, and a military jet last year landed at tiny tampa airport in a residential area. >> giant 4241 heavy, that's j-a-b-a-r-r-a. >> okay, all right. we'll copy that. >> reporter: but neither of those planes were as giant as the dreamlifter, the modified passenger plane that boeing says can hold more cargo than any other plane in the world. >> all right, rene marsh joins us now from washington. what do we know about this takeoff attempt later today? >> reporter: christine, you see the video of the plane there, for several hours, it's huge. it's been sitting there on the tarmac. it has a wing span of it can fit some four three-bedroom homes so that shows you how massive this thing is. engineers had been trying for

quite some time to figure out if it can takeoff. the takeoff attempt will happen about four hours from now. in the meantime the faa is trying to investigate what caused this confusion that happened in the cockpit. >> that's one really unusual day on the job for those pilots. >> can you imagine what a mess it would be if this were a passenger plane, 300 plus people sitting on the tarmac in kansas? >> thank you, rene marsh. an 85-year-old korean war veteran is detained in north korea for almost a month. merrill newman's son says his father was moments away from leaving pyongyang when north korean authorities hauled him away. the family hasn't heard from him since. his son spoke last night with our anderson cooper. >> went to dinner friday morning, next morning checked out of the hotel, went to the airport, got on the plane, apparently five minutes before they were ready to depart,

authority came on the plane, looked at my dad, asked to see my dad's passport. >> wow. >> and he was asked to leave the plane. >> 85 years old. the state department says only now that it is aware of the reports of newman's disappearance. the u.s. is a step closer to finalizing an agreement that would keep some u.s. troops in afghanistan until 2024. >> but first an unusual process is unfolding in kabul, more than 2,000 tribal leaders from across afghanistan are meeting today to debate this proposal. u.s. secretary of state john kerry says they must pass it but even if they do, the pact may not be signed until after april. >> nic robertson joins us to sort of unpack all of this and what it means. hi nic. >> perhaps no surprise karzai would say hold off, even if they pass it i'll sign it after the presidential elections because he's trying to, if you will,

make sure there's no "funny business" during the elections. we would like to make sure perhaps his candidate comes out on top, but this jirga, they'll break down into little groups of about, into 50 little groups, they'll debate it, come up with their conclusions sunday. i think we can expect them to pass it. they're all concerned that security in the country is not where it should be right now. >> they have a letter in their hands from president obama, there had been some reports earlier this week it would be some kind of apoll gee for past u.s. mistakes. that's not what this letter is. >> it is we will respect the sanctity and dignity of afghans in their homes. that's what it says but under extraordinary circumstances if there are threats to u.s. lives and interests, we will go into afghan's homes. the concern is by the afghans, they pile the pressure on hamid karzai, something he takes domestic political heat. when there are raids the capture, taliban al qaeda leaders they go into afghan

homes. sometimes they get it wrong. some people in tiny little villages genuinely do live in fear of helicopters coming in. this is a big deal for car die to deal with politically for himself. good language for him and good language for the joer jirga, it says a statement of intent. this will help it pass. zblts he aa complicated relationship between hamid karzai and this government. these are tough negotiations. >> understatement. he said today himself "i don't trust the united states. the united states doesn't trust me." mer k m mercurial is probably one of the nicer words to describe the afghan president. >> great to see you, nic. still to come a florida congressman headed to rehab after pleading guilty for cocaine possession. after the break what he plans to do with his public salary while he's away from his job in treatment. [ female announcer ] we give you relief from your cold symptoms.

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let's take a look at our top stories right now. the governor of virginia, bob mcdonnell is ordering a review of his state's mental health services, after a state senator was stabbed by his son, just before this son committed suicide. mental health professionals reportedly evaluated gus deeds a day before the episode but they released him because they could not find enough -- any frankly psychiatric beds in that part of the state. cnn learned at least three area hospitals did in fact have beds available. rescue crews are still searching the waters off florida for two people missing after an air ambulance crash. the coast guard searched more than 600 square miles of ocean. crews have found plenty of

debris but still not located the flight's data recorder. >> at this time there's no indication we've recovered the cockpit recording device. they've begun going through the wreckage looking to are that but we have not seen it. >> the coast guard is calling this an active search and rescue operation. kennedy cousin michael skakel could walk free as he awaits for a new trials of 1975 murder of his teenaged neighbor. the bond hearing is set for this morning. skakel spent at least 11 years in prison after -- he spent the last 11 years in prison after a jury convicted him of bludgeoning martha moxley to death with a golf club. judge set aside this conviction last month. hours after he pleaded guilty to coindication possession, congressman trey radel admitted he has a cocaine a -- actual an alcohol addiction. >> he will donate his sal troy charity while he gets treatment.

alina ma cha dough is live in cape coral, florida, where he made this announcement last night. good morning. >> good morning, christine. the 37-year-old lawmaker flew in late last night, came to his office where he answered questions from reporters about his future. >> i have no excuse for what i've done. >> reporter: contrite and apologetic, republican congressman trey radel announced late wednesday night that he's taking a leave of absence from congress after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine. >> i have let down our country. i've let down our constituents. i've let down my family. >> reporter: the freshman lawmaker says he's accepting responsibility for his actions. >> i have been getting the help that i need, and i will continue to get the help that i need. >> reporter: federal agents arrested radel back in october during a drug sting. court documents say he bought 3.5 grams of cocaine, worth $260, from an undercover officer.

radel calls his actions "extremely irresponsible" and says he's been struggling with addiction for years. >> i knew that this day would come. i've been struggling with this, but i have had my wake-up call. >> reporter: earlier wednesday, radel was at washington, d.c.'s superior court where he ignored questions from reporters. radel has been sentenced to a year of probation and if successfully completed his guilty plea will be cleared from his record. he was facing up to 180 days in prison. some are now calling for radel to step down. >> trey radel needs to resign right away. he committed a crime, members of congress swear to uphold the laws, not break them. >> reporter: the former journalist and father of a 2-year-old son stopped short of resigning, instead he says he's focused on rebuilding trust with his family. >> the first thing that i need to do tonight is go to begin to mend that trust and relationship with my wife, who is with me,

who will continue to stand with me, who i love, who is my rock. i'm going to hug my little guy, even if he's asleep tonight, and i'm going to work to do everything i can to be strong, to come out as a better man. >> reporter: radel also said he would enter an intensive in-patient program to get treatment for substance abuse. he hopes to set an example for those who struggle with addiction. an aide for the congressman tells us he plans to check himself into a rehab facility today, located in naples, florida. john, christine? >> alina machado in cape coral, florida, thanks so much. still to come for us here, alex rodriguez, he curses, he swears, then he storms out of his arbitration hearing. >> is he gone for good or will he be back today to testify? >> and is this all an act, folks? ♪ [ female announcer ] just about anywhere you use sugar,

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welcome back. about 18 minutes past the hour. alex rodriguez' arbitration hearing resumes in just minutes. don't expect the yankee third baseman to be there. >> nope, a-rod cursed, swore, used naughty language and stormed out of yesterday's session, later said he was done with what he called the farce. kind of unclear which side that farce is on. jason carroll here with the story. >> rodriguez very upset, basically called some of the mlb officials, said they were full of it. he used a different word i won't use now, calling the entire

proceeding disgusting. it happened behind closed doors and private but then rodriguez went public. >> i banged the table and kicked a briefcase and slammed out of the room. >> reporter: alex rodriguez crying foul, so angry with major league baseball's commissioner and the league's investigation into allegations he used performance-enhancing drugs, he went to the air waves to vent his frustration and to deny he used p.e.d.s. >> did you do any p.e.d.s? >> no. >> did you obstruct any witnesses, did you do anything that they accused you of doing? >> no, nothing. >> reporter: rodriguez appeared on mike france's's radio show hours after he stormed out of an arbitration hearing about his 211 game suspension, fewerous the arbitrator decided commissioner bud selig would not have to testify. >> i exploded. i was upset. i probably overreacted but it came from the heart and this has been a difficult process. >> reporter: rod reegsz' attorneys wanted to question

selig on a number of points. they alleged mlb investigators used unethical tactics, intimidating witnesses into making false accusations about rodriguez. >> my only message to the commissioner is i know you don't like new york but come and face the music. >> what about you? >> he hates my guts. no question about it. >> have you ever gotten along with him? you think this is personal? >> i don't think they like big salaries. 100% it's personal and i think this is about his legacy and it's about my legacy and he's trying to destroy me and he's retiring 2014 and to put me in his big mantle on the way out it's a hell i haof a trophy. >> reporter: investigators are denying they did anything unethical and as for rodriguez walking out "despite mr. rodriguez being upset with one of the arbitration rulings here, major league baseball remains committed to the process and a fair resolution of the pending dispute." for now rodriguez says

arbitration will continue without him. he is getting support from the players' union, which says every player has the right to directly confront his accuser. >> the question here is who is the audience. swearing and storming out of an arbitration hearing cannot play well with the arbitrator. is this for public opinion, is this for a court case that may follow this? >> all good questions. i think from the rodriguez camp this is really about as he has said it's about his legacy. it's about trying to appeal to the fans who do like him. there are a number of fans who do not like him but this is about appealing to those who support him, and who were out there trying to say basically look, this is a man who has received a 211 hc-game suspensi. if it is upheld it will basically end his career. >> he's in the corner and lashing out basically. >> yes. >> there is no qualifying for the commissioner testifying. >> mlb points out whenever they're dealing with the joint

drug agreement the commissioner never testified in a case like this. on the other hand of that you have a 211-game suspension, unprecedented, rod reegriguez s with this punishment ahead he should be able to face his accuser. talking about the explosions going on there and down on capitol hill, senator majority leader harry reid may resort to extreme measures to keep republicans from blocking presidential nominees. this is the so-called nuclear option, the big question right now is how close is he to using it? our chief congressional correspondent dana bash is following all of this and joins us live. >> reporter: hey there, john. it's all but certain he is going to try to change the rules at some point today. i'm cautious because i've seen this movement before and covered the senate long enough to know things can change at the last minute. the plan appears to be according to multiple democratic sources harry reid is going to launch the nuclear option, what that

means in layman's terms is that it could be even more partisan on capitol hill if you can imagine that, than it is now. the reason that the democratic leader is going to seek to change the rules is because they're very frustrated with the fact that republicans have been holding up the president's nominees. let's just take a step back and talk about what we're discussing. look at the screen there, the current rules allow the minority to filibuster, taken requires 60 votes to overcome the filibuster. what this rule change would do would effectively take away the minority's rights on most of the president's nominees for the executive branch and also for the bench, except for the supreme court, that means that it would be a 51 vote majority and if you look at the balance of power in the senate, you can see why democrats want to do this right now. it is 55 democrats, 45 republicans. so they would have an easy time passing the president's nominees, a much easier time

than they're having now. now you might ask well if this is the case why don't people in the majority parties in the majority change the rules all the time? the reason is, there's a reason it's called the nuclear option, it is because institutionally, both parties have this sort of an understanding that they may be in the majority now but they could be in the minority tomorrow and part of the beauty of the senate in the senate rules for the past few decades has been that minority rights are pretty strong as opposed to the house and so the respect for that has made it, made the leaders in both parties reluctant to change the rules but harry reid has gotten so fed up and wants to make a political point right now and it might happen today. >> wow that's a real change. >> the other calculation he has is looking forward and saying look, if we do this, it could be bad for us when we're in the minority but who is to say the republicans wouldn't change the rules anyway.

it may be so coaustic right now you can't trust anybody. >> very true. the other thing that's interesting we look at what might have changed. some of the veteran senators who are in the democratic caucus had been reluctant to do this, dianne feinstein of california, patrick leahy of vermont, people who have been there for a long time and have respect for the institution and also a fear of being in the minority as well. they changed their minds. they think the best way to fix washington, because they believe it is so broken, is to make this change, you know, damn the consequences. >> dana bash for us on capitol hill, thank you. stay with us. if this happens it truly is a very big deal on capitol hill, a big change and if it does happen during the next hour or so we'll bring it to you live. still to come for us, scary moments on a jetblue flight after the emergency chute deploys midair. what the airline is saying about this. this is not supposed to happen, folks. we'll show you what happened, next. [ female announcer ] it's time for the annual shareholders meeting.

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all right, welcome back. i'm christine romans. >> and i'm john berman. great to see you this morning. >> this morning we're waiting for the opening bell to ring in about 20 seconds. alison kosik following the story from the new york stock

exchange. you've had this issue where it's almost like a pause button has been hit on the rally. yesterday concerns about the fed, what are we expecting this morning? [ bell ringing ] >> looks like stocks will open in the plus column after doing a storp u-turn after the fed came you the with its minutes, basically its notes from its latest meeting showing that it may decide on how to change its stimulus the money it's pouring into the financial system, the criteria that it uses may change, so that threw investors for a loop, they wound up selling yesterday but as we see with the opening bell stocks are starting off in the plus column. >> so interesting, there's a report four years after the recession ended we're making headway when it comes to the jobs market. women regained all the jobs they lost during the recession. tell me about that. >> yes, and it was men who are having the trouble because men got clobbered during the recession. they had huge job losses in those male dominated fields, like manufacturing and construction, so they're having

a harder time finding jobs. they've got a lot more ground to make up taken hasn't happened. many of those jobs that they used to have they never came back. i want to show you this chart. i want to show you the blue line, men have only recovered 70% of the jobs that they lost. but look at the pink line, that's a milestone for women. let's give women a hand. we have gained back all the jobs lost during the recession. women lost 2.8 million jobs, women gained back 2.9 million. now women wind up working in sectors growing much faster like education, health care, leisure and hospitality, so that has a lot to do with the fact that women were able to be more resilient. christine? >> you've got about 1 million men in manufacturing and construction who have just sort of disappeared since the end of the recession. >> gone back to school, yep. >> thanks so much, alison kosik at the new york stock exchange, thank you. >> sure. a u.s. security deal with afghanistan is now in the hands of more than 2,000 of that nation's tribal leaders.

secretary of state john kerry and afghan president ma mid karzai agreed to have u.s. forces stay in afghanistan after the combat mission ends next year. under this plan, u.s. forces would play a support role until 2024. karzai says he will respect the elder's decision. afghan's parliament must also weigh in. some parties think a preliminary agreement could be reached on iran's nuclear program and sec. stare of state john kerry ready to jump into the negotiations if significant progress is made. he thinks it's the world's" best chance in a decade" to make a deal. a huge cargo jet stranded at a teenie, tiny airport in wichita, kansas. it will attempt a takeoff today at 1:00 p.m. eastern. the atlas air 747 tredreamlifte was supposed to land at mcconnell air force base. instead it landed at the much smaller jabara airport which is ten miles away. the faa is investigating how the

airport mix-up even happened. another air mixup, a jetblue flight headed from ft. myers to boston was forced to land in orlando after the emergency slide partially deployed inside the plane. the pilot managed to land safely, luckily no one was hurt. sounds like a bad thing to have go on. it is still not clear why the chute did open up. as the white house nears a self-imposed deadline to get the obama care website up and running for a majority of users, there are some signs of progress, this comes as the obama administration continues to deal with the fallout from the site's rather brutal launch. jim acosta explains. >> reporter: just as health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius was touring an obama care signup center in florida this week and chatting with volunteers about healthcare.gov the website crashed. >> reporter: the screen says

sorry your system is temporarily down. >> that's okay, it will come back. that happens every day. >> reporter: as it turns out the struggling website is exactly the scenario administration officials quietly feared, as more e-mails released by house republicans reveal top hhs official henry chao the white house worried the site was not ready one week before its october first launch referring to chief technology officer todd park chao wrote one of the things todd conveyed was this fear that the white house has about this healthcare.gov site being up available." >> people are experiencing some level of difficulty with moving from stage to stay in the online application that has been reduced and proveimproved. >> reporter: more than 133,000

people signed up for obama care on the state health exchanges and the white house released an economic report that notes the nation's health care costs are shrinking under obama care, a trend officials say could translate into more than a quarter million jobs by the end of the decade. it's a storyline that could attract more attention where it not for all the questions about healthcare.gov. the website the white house says will be ready for the vast majority of users by november 30th. >> we're working to have as many options for americans to enroll as possible, to help meet the pent-up demand that we've seen. >> reporter: it's a white house mission to rescue the policy from the punchlines. >> yesterday president obama urged americans not to be put off by the obama care website, and he offered alternative ways to enroll such as using the mail. yeah. then the president got back on his horse and rode off to spread the news to the next town. let's go! >> reporter: just one example of

how republicans in the house would like to keep those punchlines coming, cnn has obtained, john, the house republican playbook, "because of obama care i lost my insurance." we just obtained this in the last hour, it was first reported by a roll call in the "new york times" but if you flip through it, john, it gives examples and samples to house republican lawmakers of talking points, social media, sample op-eds, you name it, in the battle against obama care. >> i'm sure that book is not in the white house happy reading list, jim. >> reporter: it is not. >> there are two systems in place, the healthcare.gov site run by the federal government and also all these state exchanges. i know you've been doing a lot of work looking at what's going on in the states. >> reporter: as you notice in that piece, john, there is good news happening out in the states, some of the states that have gone out put up their own exchanges and websites. they're seeing some good results and in contrast to what's happening with healthcare.gov and many cases doing better. one note of caution not all of

the states are doing a good job, just yesterday, yesterday evening, john, out in the state of oregon, lawmakers there were having a very contentious meeting trying to get to the bottom of that state's online exchange issues. get this, john, in the state of oregon they have not enrolled one person online because of that website's issues out there. it's just one of the many examples as to why this rollout has not gone as planned for this white house, john. >> zero, a tough number to digest in oregon. thank you so much, jim acopse ta at the white house for us this morning. >> i've been looking at the rollout of social security and medicare, both wildly unpopular. medicare they had a huge war-like effort to implement it, it went smoothly and that's where i think the white house had a problem. they didn't implement it. it could have been been unpopular like medicare and social security. >> smooth is not a good word to describe this. this is what 180 miles an hour looks and sounds like.

>> and this is what it looks like when the insight tries to turn at that speed. oh, that is not pretty. >> 180 miles and trying to turn. >> the good news is the safety equipment saved the life of driver brian gillespie who escaped with minor injury. this happened at the el mirage dry lakes meet earlier this month. you have to take that turn gradually, at 180 miles an hour. >> geez. >> wow. all right. still to come for us, an old classic making a comeback. >> i'll wake it up. hello, polly, i got a nice fish when you wake up, polly parrot. >> he moved. >> no he didn't. that was you pushing it. >> we'll tell you where you can cam up with them, right after the break. ♪

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we have some good news for you. make it great news. monty python fans rejoice, the british comedy troupe making a comeback. >> go and tell your master we have been charged by god with a sacred quest. if he will give us food and shelter for the night, he can join us in our quest for the holy grail. >> well i'll ask him but i don't think he'd be very keen. he's already got one, you see?

>> how could you not love monty python and the holy grail, the group reuniting for the first time in more than 30 years. max foster is live in london where the cast just announced the date of the next performance, berman is already over there trying to book a flight. what are they planning? are you excited? >> yes, i am excited. i mean these are sort of legends in britain, and around the world. they define britishness, that weird sense of humor we have. it sort of translates. they haven't been on stage now for 30 years, and they're all in their 70s. they had a combined age of more than 300 they pointed out. it was a fun press conference. it's interesting, i have spoken to all of them since and they are nervous, nol really sure who watches or why they watch. they said all we did was a few sketches and came together eventually to turn them into some films so they don't really know what they're doing, but it was fun and organizing basically

a massive live show at the 02 arena in london, a one-you have ap. if things go well there will be more possibly in america. >> it will be great, come back to the hollywood bowl. max i knew you were more of a monty python than benny hill guy when it describes the britishness you're talking about. the question is why are they all doing this now? they had long and successful careers. what's getting them back on the stage? >> reporter: yes, well that was interesting, and they basically admitted that they're pretty much doing it for the money. they want to see how it goes. they all talked about how they've lost wives, their wives are taking half their money so they want to earn some money and it's their last chance. now that they're in air 70s. they're not even hiding it. i asked john clees what are the rumors you didn't get on and you were arguing? the answer was we never get on, what's you? >> i love that british

practicality, we need more money and we don't know why we're funny. max foster in london thanks so much. still to come, for chris christie that 2016 talk show is no sign of winning at all. >> an the new jersey governor's newest job will only increase speculation. what he's doing after this quick break. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed much is the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ to enjoy all of these years. great. this is the last thing i need.) seriously? the last thing you need is some guy giving you

a new catalytic converter when all you got is a loose gas cap. what? it is that simple sometimes. thanks. now let's take this puppy over to midas and get you some of the good 'ol midas touch. hey you know what? i'll drive! and i have no feet... i really didn't think this through. trust the midas touch. for brakes, tires, oil, everything. (whistling) i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired. i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there.

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welcome back. taking a look at top stories, a university in cypress will soon accept bit coins to pay for tuition and other fees, the first ever school to accept bit coins as payment. the school plans to offer a degree in the currency, which you can study for on campus and of course online. big box retailer costco apologizing after some bibles were labeled as fiction. cnn affiliate ktla reports a

pastor saw the bibles and tweeted a picture to his congregation. costco blamed the mistake on ace distributor. the bibles are being relabeled. when a volcano erupts on land it destroys thing but when it erupts underwater creates something, a new island south of tokyo. the volcano's eruption created the island, about 600 feet in diameter. scientists say it might erode, but there's a pretty good chance it could stay. >> cool to look at, too. fresh after his big re-election as new jersey governor chris christie embracing a new role, chairman of the republican governor's association. the job will give more prominence to the politician who many say could be a presidential contender in 2016. for his part he says his focus is on the task at hand, getting more republicans elected at the state level. >> i'm getting great responses from donors and fellow

governors. i'm looking forward to. going to be a great year, 36 races will be fun. 2014, no one mentions anything else. do the everyone has been wonderful. >> all right. joining us now for real, peter hamby, who is nearby where the rg is holding its meeting. the chairmanship of the rga is traditionally a launch pad to something bigger. has been for many a chairman. >> that's right, john. this is a big deal. when you talk about the invisible primary or the behind-the-scene stuff that these potential candidate does behind the scenes, rga is a plum job. the reason is that it will allow christie to travel the country next year. there are 36 governors' races, be on tvs across the country. they have about $150 million

political budget that christie will be able to control next year. so basically this gives him a way to get out of new jersey, travel the country, meet voters, meet donors, meet reporters, you know, under the guise of campaigning for other governors. but it allows him to lay groundwork for a potential presidential bid behind the scenes. his staff is here behind me in the hotel and already are meeting with donors and the like to make all those kinds of connections that will be valuable in a few years, john. >> very valuable. peter hamby, behind the scenes, wi where he likes to operate. thank you. prince fielder traded to texas. who they got in return and how much they're saving. details rup next in the bleacher report. farmer: hello, i'm an idaho potato farmer. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it.

it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what? they always have. they always will. that's why you take charge of your future. your retirement. ♪ ameriprise advisors can help you like they've helped millions of others. listening, planning, working one on one. to help you retire your way... with confidence. that's what ameriprise financial does. that's what they can do with you. ameriprise financial. more within reach.

rarely do you see two playoff teams making such a blockbuster trade. that's what's go iing on betwee the texas rangers and detroit tigers. >> good morning, andy. >> good morning, guys. this is a huge trade. texas is sending all-star second baseman ian kinsler to detroit in exchange for slugger prince fielder. rangers are looking for a big

left-handed bat. they got it with fielder. they also get his monster contract. fielder is owed $168 million over the next seven seasons. according to reports, tigers will pay for $30 million of that by trading kinsler. some think the rangers will now also go after yankees free agent second baseman robinson cano. as feared, olympic skier lindsey vonn has reinjured her surgically repaired knee and is in jeopardy of missing the olympics. she has a partial tear to her right acl. vonn will rest for a few days then pursue aggressive physical therapy to see if she can compete in the sochi games in february. kyle drier and his wife gave birth, had a broken collar bone just like quarterback aaron

rodgers. they named their son aaron rodger drier. routine traffic stop when jose canseco is involved. slugger pulled over by the cops with ghosts in his car. canseco tweeted this picture out as proof. one of the goats is wearing a diaper. they are part of a fainting goat adventure documentary that he is currently producing. >> diaper is brilliant. >> i don't even know what those words mean fainting goat documentary adventure, with a diaper-wearing goat and it's jose canseco. somehow it makes sense because of that. >> how do you change a diaper on a goat? >> very carefully. >> very carefully. >> right.

>> thanks. all right. we want to end now with this. for better or worse, black friday frenzy has become nearly as much as a thanksgiving tradition as the holiday itself. stories about store employees braving post turkey day stampedes. to show up on the predawn hours of the biggest shopping day of the year, deals are already in motion. that's in akron, ohio. >> we see this frenzy or, as you like to call it, frenz-e every year. >> still on the goat story. sorry. >> do you actually get a better deal if you're first? >> this guy is all camped out for tvs. is it really worth it? 56% of americans say it is worth it to line up. there's been this big christmas creep where now you're getting deals starting right now that are black friday deals. right now they're black friday deals. i'm wondering, is black friday dead? you can start shopping for deals now. >> like the week of black

friday. >> it is. these are the best deals each day, according to deal news. smart phones on thanksgiving -- you can go shopping now on thanksgiving, black friday you'll get laptops, computers, maybe iphones, kitchenware. wait till cyber monday, also a made-up industry. another day they want you to reach into your pocket and spend money you don't have on clothing and shoes. >> it should be called black november instead of black friday. >> retailers are trying so hard to get you to spend money that now there's no real black friday anymore. it's this whole period -- i'm wondering if they're hurting themselves by doing that. >> too much. >> too much. is there ever a good deal in all this? >> maybe. >> maybe. >> 58% of people pay for it by january. if you can't pay for it by january, you have no business going out there and shopping on the the holidays. >> that is great advice, as usual, from christine romans. thank you very much. >> you're welcome. next hour of cnn "newsroom" begins right now.

all right. good morning. welcome back. i'm christine romans, along with john berman. christine cost ello has the day off. abusive filibuster by the republican colleagues ready to pull the trigger on the so-called nuclear option. sources telling cnn that majority leader harry reid will likely launch this option today. this is a very big deal, folks. historic, in fact. it could have an impact on whichever party is in the minority for a long, long time. we want to bring in cnn's chief congressional correspondent dana bash live for us on capitol hill. explain to us exactly the mechanics of how this is going to work today. >> reporter: first of all, we should say it looks like it is all but certain that it is going to work. because this is the senate and because deals are sometimes struck at the last minute or plans change at the last minute, it could change. i was just told before coming on air with you that when the senate convenes in half an hour that senators were asked to come

to the floor to prepare for this vote, which could be an historic vote. and why this matters, it certainly sounds like maybe a process that people might not care about. but they should care. as you said, this is about a very partisan place that could get even more divided and divisive, if you can even imagine that. the reason why, harry reid, the democratic leader is making moves to make a change in the rules is because of frustration that, republicans have been holding up the president's nominees. the straw that broke the camel's back is the fact that republicans have been blocking three nominees to fill vacancies in a d.c. circuit court. the reason republicans are doing that is not because of the ideology, john, of these -- or even the qualifications of these particular judges. it's because they are concerned about stacking this court

because it is currently evenly split. pretty much evenly split between judges appointed by a democratic president, judges who are appointed by a republican president and they don't want to rock that boat. it's certainly not the only reason democrats are making this move but certainly is one of the most recent reasons. when i say "this move," it is to prevent republicans from using the filibuster in a way that we have seen so many times. right now, a filibuster needs 60 votes to overcome. and what this rule change would do would be to make it a simple majority. 51 votes. it would make the democrats life a whole lot easier right now because they have a 55-vote majority. the reason it's not done every time the senate changes hands is because everybody has sort of tended to realize that they could be in the minority the next time around and there is a respect for that and respect for institution that the whole idea

of it is to give the minority rights that they don't have in any other particular institution. >> dana bash, thanks so much. as dana said, this could happen at 10:30. we will likely come back to dana in a little bit. it could be history making. it sounds complicated but it could change the already caustic situation in washington to something even more caustic. gloria, thank you for joining us. i'm intrigued by the fact that you're a constitutional law professor. what does the constitution say about the current senate rules? >> believe it or not, the framers didn't use the phrase tubing leer option. they did have a device within the constitution, article ii, section ii, clause ii, gives the president the power to nominate

judges. however, it also -- put that power in this perspective. they would seek -- the president would seek the advice and consent of the senate. so, therefore, time being what it is and the interpretations being what they are, it's been decided that this filibuster option, not in the constitution, has been created through rules of the senate to limit the presidential power in presenting those nominations. and, therefore, the senate is supposed to based on the interpretation over time, give its advice and, therefore, if the advice is not what the president wants, it can halt nominations to be judges. >> gloria browne-marshall, it's tradition that's developed over the past 200 years to have this filibuster possibility in what the senate majority leader might finally be willing to do is to remove that, advice and consent, to make it something that can happen with just a majority.

do you think this would somehow alter the power pla balance between the legislative and executive branch? >> that's a struggle that's been taking place well over 100 years. henry clay in the 1800s, during that time period of woodrow wilson and others, world war ii, that issue was whether or not the president was able to push through certain legislation the president felt was needed. what it comes down to with these particular judges -- also, we have to keep in mind these judges for the d.c. circuit are just a hair's breath from the u.s. supreme court. this political argument has a long history of the struggle for political power. and when the minority can use whatever options it has, then it's done so overtime. and i think that putting -- not just stacking the deck. i think it's also putting these people, these judges, very well qualified judges, in line to be u.s. supreme court judges. it's almost a preemptive strike versus the nuclear strike.

so, the minority is trying to halt what they see is going to be an elevation of one of these three judges, all of whom are african-american, to the u.s. supreme court possibly during the second term of the president. >> as you say, there are major stakes for all three branches of the u.s. government right now. you have a sense of history, u.s. history, constitutional history. is it your sense right now that the situation, the ire, the kind of caustic nature, that it's worse in washington? >> i would say it's not worse. it comes like a roller coaster. you have certain peaks of animosity. this is one of those times in history. we'll look back on this 10 to 15 years from now. look back during the time period leading into world war ii and say, yes, this is a caustic time in history.

if not more caus particular, it is caustic. we wonder how our government will survive. we need to know based on constitutionalization that we will find a way. yes, we come to loggerheads, but it will resolve itself in probably one of the most unique ways possible. if this happens with the rule change today, it doesn't mean it will set in stone. as we can see, history five, ten years from now, it could be changed again. >> as you say it's a roller coaster and not something permanent. it could make it particularly risky to change the conditions and rules now. gloria browne marshall, thank you so much for being with us on this subject. >> another story we're following this morning, 85-year-old korean war veteran has been detained in north korea for almost a month now. meryl newman's son was on the plane home after visiting as a

tourist when north korean authorities hauled him away. the family has not heard from him since. his son spoke to anderson cooper about why his father traveled there. >> a couple of things. he's a curious cat and has had a longstanding and tremendously respectful interest in the korean culture and the korean people. and like the world war ii vets who have had an interest in going back to normandy, my dad, a veteran of the korean conflict, wanted to go back to the northern part of the peninsula. he had been to the southern part of the peninsula before. and this was a lifelong dream of his. >> cnn's jill dougherty is at the state department. what do we know about his whereabouts? the state department says they're aware of the situation. >> reporter: they're not saying too much more, christine. there's a reason. this is extremely delicate

diplomatically. the north hasn't officially said that they are holding him. there's no detail exactly where he is and the official reasons. why are they doing it -- are not clear. we do know he did all of the things that are correct. he went on an official tour. he had the right visa, according to his family. everything was fine. he goes, having a good time. then it appears, according to his son, at the very end, officials from north korea talked to him and it was not apparently a pleasant conversation. and then the next day when he was about to leave, as you said, they go on the plane, asked for his passport. take him off. that's more than three weeks ago. right now, there are no relations between north korea and the united states. the u.s. has to work through the swedish diplomats. and they are working that. but there is real concern, because he is 85. he does have a heart problem. the family has given some medication through the swedes,

hoping it will get to him. there's no guarantee at this point. >> you've been to north korea. why do you think something like this could have happened ? we know there's a history of this kind of stuff before with other countries, citizens. what happens from here? >> you know, i think -- i think and, of course, this is speculation, but anybody, let's say, who has fought against the north, even if it was a very long time ago during the korean war, let's say that he had said something about fighting in the war. some bureaucrat or person might take that as an attack on the nation, against north korea. he is an enemy. also he apparently was studying korean before he went. he wanted to be able to speak to people. that's also a red line because i can tell you, once when we traveled, there was a producer who spoke korean who is not allowed to go. both of those, putting both of

those together with a paranoid mind, you might say, oh, he is a spy. that's entirely possible for the thinking that's going on. again, my speculation. just before this became public, there was a very serious warning from the state department. probably the most serious that i've seen about arbitrary arrests of americans, warning americans that even with the right credentials, et cetera, something can happen. so at this point, it's just a big effort to hopefully get him out. as his son said, that this is a misunderstanding, as they interpret it, and they want him home. >> jill dougherty in washington, thank you, jill. still to come for us, wichita, we have a problem. a huge plane stuck at a tiny airport. >> we'll tell you how it ended up there and when they're going to get this big boat back in the air. mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1971. afghanistan in 2009.

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welcome back, everyone. landed at a very small airport instead. >> atlas dream lifter was headed to mcconnell air force base but ended up just shy, 10 mile as way at the much smaller airport. the faa is investigating. >> officials had feared that the drunls way was too short for the dream lifter to take off. now officials tell cnn the plane will attempt to depart later today. >> rene, how did this happen? >> that is the big question this

morning. good morning, christine and john. major confusion in the cockpit and a huge embarrassment for these pilots. we don't know how it happened or even why at this point. that's what the faa is trying to figure out. it is so clear that when they land they're not quite sure where they are. take a listen. >> do you know which airport you're at? >> well, we think we have a pretty good -- >> have you, roger. it appears that you are -- >> say again. >> giant 4241 heavy, it appear that is you are at jabara airport. >> it is apparently half the length of the destination airport's runway and runway length is critical because of the load that this sort of plane

is capable of carrying, up to a million pounds on takeoff. to get the lift that you need on that kind of plane, you need ample space on the runway. we should note, we're not quite sure how much cargo was on board that plane. >> long division trying to figure out if the size of plane can make it for the short length of the airport. they'll do a try out later to y today. rene marsh, thanks. this just in. senators have been asked to come to the senate floor at 10:30. they've been asked to come and be ready to debate a likely vote on the so-called nuclear option. this would be a move that would prevent republicans from blocking most of the president's nomin nominees. democrats would be able to get these nominees through with a simple majority vote not a filibuster proof majority. dana bash is hearing from a couple of senators right now that senate majority harry reid might not put it to a vote today but at least will start the debate today on the so-called

nuclear option. whatever way, it is still an historic today in the senate. stay with us for that. still to come, chris christie will soon be back on the campaign trail as he tries to help his fellow republican governors win their elections. >> will it help his own potential white house bid in a few years? we'll talk about this coming up next. [ male announcer ] introducing red lobster's seafood bakes. combinations of your favorite seafood from lobster to crab, shrimp and mussels in a savory broth. try one today, and sea food differently. get a coupon at redlobster.com for 10 dollars off any two seafood bakes, crab or lobster entrees. you feel...squeezed. congested. beat down. crushed. as if the weight of the world is resting on your face. but sudafed gives you maximum strength sinus pressure and pain relief. so you feel free. liberated. released. decongested. open for business. [ inhales, exhales ]

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republican governors gathering today. leading the group, new jersey governor chris christie, who becomes the leader of the republican governors association this afternoon. >> there's talk about christie's am bigs outside new jersey continues, the governor insists he's taking his political future one year at a time. >> great response from both donors and from my fellow governors. i'm looking forward to it. it's going to be a great year. 36 races will be fun. >> all right. cnn national political reporter peter hamby is in arizona for us this morning. peter, this really feels like the next stop on the big chris christie publicity tour. >> yeah, it really does, john. look, christie and his team, as he mentions, insists this is about 2014. as long as he and his fellow republican governors do good in

the mid term, the rest will take shape. rick perry has won the rga twice. now christie gets to travel the country, campaign for republican governors around the country. importantly, meet with major financial supporters and donors of the republican party, a resource he can tap later if he does choose to run for president and this is a high-profile gig. he will be on tv all over the country throughout the next year. it's only going to boost his already major profile, john. >> we've shown some of the places where he's going to be and they get pretty important in the months ahead. >> iowa, south carolina. >> south carolina. >> reporter: it's a really convenient thing for christie. a governor's race that's competitive in iowa, the first caucus state. there's potentially competitive race in south carolina, the first in the south primary state and then big battleground states like ohio, pennsylvania,

florida. all of these have signature gubernatorial races next year. christie will be able to show up in these places, raise money. this will be a good year for him, guys. >> all the while he can remain coy aon whether he's running an just say he's doing the work of the republican governors association. >> i don't know how coy he is anymore. gathering right now for an historic vote that could conduct the way the upper chamber conducts its business. [ female announcer ] we give you relief from your cold symptoms.

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28 minutes after the hour. senators headed to the senate floor to debate the nuclear option. frustrated over what some say is the abuse of filibusters by republicans. they're ready to pull the trigger and change the rules. >> sources telling cnn that majority leader harry reid is launching at least debate on the option today. this is a move that could have an impact on whatever parties in the minority. this honestly could have a huge impact on the way business is done, period, in washington.

let's bring in cnn's chief congre congressional correspondent dana bash on capitol hill right now. give us the latest. >> well, we're waiting for the senate to convene. that should be happening any minute now. and when it does, we are going to certainly be listening to what the senate majority leader harry reid does, what his move is going to be. i've been told by some democratic senators that they have been asked to come to the floor to prepare for a debate on what you just described, what is known around here as the nuclear option. and the reason it is called nuclear is because it is something that could explode when it comes to any kind of comedy, any kind of across-the-aisle discussion and negotiation on pretty much everything around here. and the reason is this. in the united states senate, minority rights are considered pretty important because each party knows that at various times they're in the majority, they're in the minority. right now, democrats say that they are fed up. most recently because of the fact that republicans have been

blocking the president's nominees to the d.c. circuit and democrats say it's simply unfair for them to do that. so what we are likely to see today is harry reid, the democratic leader, at least make a move to have a discussion about changing the rules so that republicans don't have a 60-vote threshold that democrats would have to overcome to break that filibuster, but rather a 51-vote simple majority. right now the way the balance of power in the senate is that democrats have that. they have 55 votes. we're just talking about the president's nominees for the executive branch, for judges. except not the supreme court. and those are the rules that they're talking about changing. republicans are bracing for it. top two senate republicans just went on to the senate floor, senate producer ted barrett saw them, talked to jon cornyn, who said they do think democrats are going to push this. they think it's unfortunate. they argue that democrats are

not accurate, that these times are not different than before, that republicans are not holding up presidential appointments any more than democrats did when president bush was, for example, in the white house. >> the reason it's called the nuclear option is because once you do it, you can't go back. right? they've been hesitant to use this in the past. what is the tipping point today? >> what the major tipping point is there is a court of appeals, very important one, d.c. circuit, it is called, which tends to hear a lot of the appeals to laws that congress passes. so, it's sort of near and dear to congress' heart. right now there are three vacancies on that court and the judges who are currently on the bench are pretty much evenly divided by democratic pointes and republican appointees. democrats have been trying to fill those vacationancies and republicans have been blocking

those appointees. they're pretty honest about the fact that they don't want the makeup of that court to change and they argue that there is much more of a need in other courts to fill the bench than in this particular court. they say the workload is light and they argue that democrats are manufacturing this crisis because of the fact that they want to change the subject away from obama care. we're talking about this, talking about republicans blocking the president's nominees and not about obama care. >> cnn's chief congressional correspondent dana bash on capitol hill for us. we'll need updates from you as they come in. cnn political commentator ana navarro and editorial director for the national journal ron brownstein. ron, i have to say, this has not been a banter year for playing nice in washington. >> no. >> i think democrats would say this vote is a result of the not playing nice, and republicans will say it will only make not

playing nice even worse. which is it, or is it both? >> it's both. i think we can say it's not been a decade or two for not playing nice in washington. whether this happens today or tomorrow, john, it is inevitable that it gets rolled back over time. it is incompatible with the way washington works today. political scientists will tell you that today we are experiencing the highest level of party-line voting in the history of congress, republicans voting with republicans, democrats voting with democrats. when each party lines up in that quasi parliamentary system where the whole team votes on one side against the whole team on the other side, the idea of a supermajority is an anacronism. over time, the majority party isn't going to stand for this kind of roadblocking we're seeing on these judicial nominees on the appealate court. >> ana? >> you know, frankly, it's going to be one more nail in the

coffin of bipartisanship and one more nail in the coffin of civility in washington. i don't think it's a construct move. i agree with what ron is saying, it's a manifestation, and that lack of bipartisanship and being able to get things done in a bipartisan way. we are just seeing with obama care what doing things with just one party can mean, that an entire section of the country is not represented. big, difficult, complex issues should be done in a bipartisan manner. i hope they work it out. we've been on the briveng of the nuclear option before. i hope this gets worked out before they pull that trigger. democrats should remember that what goes around, comes around. they're not going to be in the majority the entire time. this could come back to bite them. >> and that is the message that a lot of republicans are sending right now. right now it does seem we are in def-con 1, to use some nuclear terminology here. sit tight.

i think dana bash has some news for us on capitol hill. what do you have? >> reporter: some more information about how we now understand this is going to go down this morning by way of our senate producer ted barrett. first of all, senator reid will speak on this issue, senator mcconnell will speak on the issue. and then the democratic leader, harry reid, will move to reconsider the nomination of one of those judges i was telling you about that republicans have been blocking, patricia mallette. that will be the first vote, a motion to reconsider that nomination. then there will be another vote to reconsider that nomination. two votes on a judge that has already been blocked by republicans and will likely fail because republicans have the 60 votes to keep their filibuster of this nomination going. then what we'll likely see is harry reid appeal to the chair and a that he would like to change the rules so that this nominee can -- and others can

get passed with only a simple majority, 51 votes. the expectation is that the rule will say that's not in order and not allowed. then harry reid will call for a senate vote to change the rules. what you're going to see then is a senate vote, which only requires a simple majority, 51 votes, to change the rules to prevent republicans from filibustering this and other judges and other nominees. >> all right. it could be high drama and it could unfold within the next few minutes. dana bash, ana navarro, ron brownstein, thank you for being with us. what you wear to bed is your business. so, if you're sleeping in your contact lenses, ask about the air optix® contacts so breathable they're approved for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. serious eye problems may occur. ask your doctor and visit airoptix.com for safety information and a free one-month trial. [ male announcer ] this december, experience the gift of unsurpassed craftsmanship at the lexus december to remember sales event.

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senate majority leader harry reid on the floor of the senate, the so-called nuclear option. let's listen to him for a moment. >> 50%. is there anything fair about that? these nominees deserve at least an up or down vote. yes or no. a republican filibuster deny them a fair vote. any vote and deny the president his team. gridlock has consequences and they're terrible. it's not only bad for president obama, bad for this body, the united states senate, it's bad for our country. it's bad for our national security and bad for economic security. that's why it's time to get the senate working again. not for the good of the current democratic majority or some

future republican majority but for the good of the united states of america. it's time to change. it's time to change the senate before this institution becomes obsolete. mr. president, at the beginning of this congress, the republican leader pledged that -- and i quote -- this congress should be more bipartisan than last congress. mr. president, we're told in scripture -- let's take, for example, old testament. book of numbers. promises, pledges, a vow. one must not break his word. in january, republicans promised to work with the majority to process nominations in a timely manner by unanimous consent except in extraordinary circumstances. mr. president, exactly three weeks later, republicans mounted

a first in history filibuster of a highly qualified nominee for secretary of defense despite being a former republican senator, a decorated war hero, having saved his brother's life in vietnam, defense secretary chuck hagel's nomination was pending in the senate for a record 34 days, more than three times the previous average of secretary of defense. remember, mr. president, our country was at war. republicans have blocked executive nominees like secretary hagel not because they object to the qualifications, but simply because they seek to undermine the very government in which they were elected to serve. take the nomination of richard cordre to lead the consumer protection bureau. there was no doubt about his ability to do the job. but the consumer financial protection bureau, the brainchild of elizabeth warren,

went for more than two years without a leader because republicans refused to accept the law of the land, because they wanted to roll back a law that protects consumers from the greed of wall street. i say to my republican colleagues, you don't have to like the laws of the land but you do have to respect those laws and acknowledge them and abide by them. similar obstruction continued unabated for seven more months until democrats threatened to change senate rules to allow up or down votes on executive nominations. in july, after obstructing dozens of executive nominees for months and some for years, republicans once again promised they would end the unprecedented obstruction. one look at senate's executive counter shows nothing has changed since july. republicans have continued their

record of obstruction as if no agreement had been reached. republicans have continued their record of obstruction as if no agreement had been reached. nominations ready to be confirmed by the senate and waiting in average 140 days for confirmation. one executive nominee to the agency that safeguards the water that my children and my grandchildren drink and air they breathe has waited almost 900 days for confirmation. we agreed in july that the senate should be confirming nominees to ensure the proper functioning of government. consistent and unprecedented obstruction by the republican caucus has turned advise and consent into deny and obstruct. in addition to filibustering a nominee for secretary of defense for the first time in history, senate republicans also blocked

a sitting member of congress from an administration position for the first time since 1843. as a senior member of the house financial service committee, congressman mel watts understanding of the mistakes led to the housing crisis made him uniquely qualified to serve as administrator of the federal housing agency. senate republicans simply don't like the consumer protections congressman watt was nominated to develop and implement. so they denied a fellow member of congress and a graduate of the yale school of law even the courtesy of an up or down vote. mr. president, in the last three weeks alone, the republicans have blocked up or down votes on three highly qualified nominees to the circuit court of appeals. this doesn't take into consideration they twice turned down one of the most qualified people in my 30 years in the

senate that i've ever seen come before this body, kaitlyn holigan. three more yet to add to that list. d.c. circuit is considered by many to be the highest court of the land and some think maybe the most important. deals with these complex cases. they come from federal agencies and other things within their jurisdiction. republicans have blocked four of president obama's five nominees to the d.c. circuit whereas democrats approved for president bush's nominations to this court. the d.c. circuit court, at least its second-most important court in the land, has more than 25% in vacancies. there isn't a single -- i ask -- mr. president, i ask -- there's a conversation over here that's quite distracting. >> the senate will be in order. >> thank you. >> the senator has a right to be

hea heard. >> mr. president, there isn't a single legitimate objection to the qualifications of any of these nominees of the d.c. circuit that president obama has put forward. republicans have refewed to give them an up or down vote, a simple yes nor vote. they don't want president obama to make any appointments at all to this vital court. none. zero. further, only 23 district court nominations have been filibustered in the entire history of our country, 23. you know what? 20 of them have been in the last 4 1/2 years. 230 plus years. three, last 4 1/2 years, 20. that's not fair. millions of americans have

relied on courts that are overworked and under staffed are being denied the justice they rightly deserve. mr. president, more than half of the nation's population lives in parts of the country that have been declared a judicial emergency. no one has worked harder than the presiding officer to move judges. presiding officer is the chairman also of the judiciary committee. no one knows the problem more than the presiding officer. mr. president, the american people are fed up with this kind of obstruction and gridlock. the american people, democrats, republicans, independents, are fed up with this gridlock. the american people want washington to work for american families once again. mr. president, i'm on their side, which is why i propose an important change to the rules of

the united states senate. the present republican leader himself said -- this is a direct quote -- the senate repeatedly has changed its rules as circumstances dictate. close quote. he's right. in fact, the senate has changed its rules 18 times by sustaining or overturning the ruling of a preside officer. during the tenures of both republican and democratic majorities. the change we propose today would ensure executive and judicial nominations, an up or down vote on confirmation. yes, no. the rule change will make cloture for all nominations other than the supreme court majority vote, yes or no. the senate is a living thing and to survive, it must change, as it has over the history of this great country. to the average american, da adapting the rules to make the

senate work again is just common sense. this is not about democrats versus republicans. this is about making washington work regardless of who is in the white house or who controls the senate. to remain relevant and effective as an institution, the senate must evolve to meet the challenges of this modern era. i have no doubt my republican colleagues will argue the fault is ours. i can say from experience that no one's hands are entirely clean on this issue. but today the important distinction is not between democrats and republicans. it is between those who are willing to help break the gridlock in washington and those who defend the status quo. is the senate working now? can anyone say the senate is working now? i don't think so. tod

today, democrats and republicans are saying enough enough. to change the rules will apply equally. when the change is in power, these rules will apply to them as well. that, mr. president, is simple fairness and should be something that both sides are willing to recognize. >> clerk of court will call the role. >> we've been listening to senate majority leader harry reid presenting this filibuster nuclear option and the senators are there on the floor. let's bring in dana bash, who has been following this all morning. >> reporter: he just laid out what we knew was coming. certainly as of this morning, we knew it was very likely. he laid out that he's going to make the move to change the rules. forgive me. i hear that the republican leader is going to respond. let me know if you want to go to

mitch mcconnell. >> if he gets going, when we hear him, we'll stop. let's go to mitch mcconnell. >> talking about the way in which obama care was forced on the public by an administration and a democratic led congress that we now know was willing to do and say anything, anything to pass the law. the president and his democratic allies were so determined to force their vision of health care on the public that they assured them up and down that they wouldn't lose the plans they had instead of losing it and that they would be able to use the doctors and hospitals they were already using. but, of course, we know that that rhetoric just doesn't match reality. and the stories we are hearing on a nearly daily basis now range from heartbreaking to comic. just yesterday, i saw a story

about a guy getting a letter in the mail saying his dog -- his dog had qualified for insurance under obama care. so, yeah, i would probably be running for the exit, too, if i supported this law. i would be looking to change the subject. change the subject. just as senate democrats have been doing with their threats of going nuclear and changing senate rules on nominations. if i were a senator from oregon, for example, which hasn't enrolled a single person -- a single person for the obama care exchange, i would probably want to talk about something else, too. but here is the problem with this latest distraction. it doesn't distract them of obama care. it reminds them of obama care. it reminds them of all the

broken promises. it reminds them of the power grab. it reminds them of the way democrats have set up one set of rules for sfwhemsz another for everybody else. one set of rules for them and another for everybody else. actually, this is all basically the same debate. and rather than distract people from obama care, it only reinforces the narrative of a party that is willing to do and say just about anything to get its way. willing to do or say just about anything to get its way. that's just what they're doing all over again. once again, senate democrats are threatening to break the rules of the senate, break the rules of the senate in order to change the rules of the senate. and over what?

and what do they do about it? they cook up some fake fight over judges. a fake fight over judges that aren't even needed. look, i get it. as i indicated, i want to be talking about something else, too. if i had to defend dogs getting insurance while millions of americans lost theirs. but it won't work. and the parallels between this latest skirmish and the latest obama care push are just too obvious to ignore. think about it. just think about it. the majority leader promised -- he promised over and over again

that he wouldn't break the rules of the senate in order to change them. this is not an ancient promise. july 14th on "meet the press," he said we're not touching judges. this year, july 14th, "meet the press," we're not touching judges. then there are the the double standards. when democrats were in the minority, they argued strenuously for the very things they now say we will have to do without. namely, the right to extend a debate on lifetime appointments. in other words, they believe that one set of rules should apply to them, to them and another set to everybody else.

he may as well have said if you like the rules of the senate, you can keep them. >> you've been listening to mitch mcconnell. there is a whole lot going on the floor of the senate. >> oh, yeah. >> up for debate nuclear option, changing rules for fill bustering nominees for judiciary and administrative nomination. he wasted no time bringing up obama care, which was not exactly the subject that harry reid started with today. i think it's a sign of things to come in the senate for some time. let's go right to dana bash right now for her reaction to this. dana? >> reporter: the reason mitch mcconnell brought up obama care is because of the argument he was just making. republicans have been saying this to us for weeks, that if the democrats make this move, trigger the nuclear option, it is for one reason and one reason only -- because they want to distract from this enormous political problem that they have on obama care. and you just heard mitch mcconnell say it right there.

he believes this is a fake fight and that this is not fair, it's a double standard and so on and so on. of course, before he spoke, harry reid made the point, going through some of the statistics, some of the numbers of nominees that are held up currently as we speak from the administration -- i believe 75 are sitting on the calendar right now -- saying that that is unfair and people in the administration need to have the personnel in order to have the government to function. it is a basic question of whether or not the government can function for the people. and they can't if they don't have the personnel there. he also addressed the fairness issue. harry reid saying that he understands that if and when these rules change, meaning part of it that's in the minority now, the republicans, are stripped of their ability to filibuster, stripped of their ability to hold up a president's nominees that if and when democrats are in the minority and there's a republican in the white house, they are going to

have to live by those same rules. that is something he said on the senate floor and that is something that is going to come back to haunt them. >> the irony, dana bash, is quite frankly something that they want to do to, i guess, break this lack of partisanship would only make this lack of partisanship even worse. >> that's exactly right. >> dana bash, thank you for all your -- go ahead. >> it certainly seems like something to come. >> cnn's coverage of this will continue throughout the day, including on "legal view with ashley b ashleigh banfield," which begins right now. hello, everyone. i'm ashleigh banfield. it is thursday, november 21st. welcome to "legal view." hi. drama on capitol hill with

consequences that could be felt for decades. senate mantle leader harry reid and other senior democrats say they have simply had enough of republican filibuster threats. and they're invoking what is known as the nuclear option. it would dramatically alter senate rules to allow just 51 votes, a simple majority to overcome a filibuster. let's listen in to senator mcconnell as he continues to make his case. >> judicial nominees, effectively changing them for all judicial nominees, including the supreme court, as senator grassley pointed out just yesterday. so, look, i realize this sort of wishful thinking might appeal to the uninitiated newcomers in the democratic congress who have served exactly zero days in the minority, but the rest of you guys in the conference should know better. those of you who have been in the minority before should know better. let's remember